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VENTILATION 



SCHOOL HOUSES. 




BOSTOlSr: 

J. H. EASTBURN CITY PEINTER. 



( 



I 



\ 



REPOETS 



OTHER DOCUMENTS 



*■' -^ * ^ 1 



RELATING TO THE 



YENTILATI 



^ ^..' * ^ .:^ 



SCHOOL HOUSES 



CITY OF BOSTON. 






BOSTOMIA itf 
COSDITA^. ^^ 

^„ 1830. -^^ 



BOSTON: 

1848. 

JOHN H. EASTBURN CITY PRINTER. 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



At a meeting of the School Committee, December 9, 1847, 
the Committee on Ventilation made their second and final Re- 
port, which was ordered to be printed. 

At a subsequent meeting the following Order was passed : 

"CITY OF BOSTON. 



" In School Committee, December 29, 1847. 

" Ordered, That the Committee on Ventilation, be instructed to 
append to their late Report on Ventilation, such parts of their 
previous Reports on the same subject, and such special directions 
to the Masters, as they may think advantageous. 
"A true copy. 

"Attest, S. F. McCleart, Secretary." 

In February, 1846, a Sub-Committee of the School Commit- 
tee, consisting of Messrs. Clark, Loring, and Brooks, was appoint- 
ed, in the words of the Order, " to consider the subject of Ventila- 
tion of the School houses under the care of this Board, and to 
Report at a future meeting, some method of remedying the very 
defective manner in which it is at present accomplished. 

"And said Committee are authorized to ventilate, as a matter of 
experiment, any two School houses in such manner as they may 
deem expedient." 

In December of the same year, (1846), this Committee made a 
Report, containing their views upon the subject, and the result of 
their investigations of the condition of the School houses, &c., from 
which the following passages, after undergoing some necessary 
revision, have been extracted. 

It is believed, that these Reports, with their accompanying doc- 
uments, now contain information upon all points necessary to be 
understood, in order to ventilate any School house in a perfectly 
satisfactory manner. 

Boston, December, 1847. 



Men, and women, und liUle children, husband. anC 1 
mdfalever^jy^, „„„, a„d ,„oO.«ri, were h.nped uboui ih* 
>nderry, o.Hoor of the calun in disorder, some wiih then 



with 



^ Uij ! . i ' : i;.L^ :. i)ucainber,adreadral 

loiik pluctj UQ board llic aleemer Londoi 

her p!i*«ag« from Sligo to Liverpool, by wliich op clothes torn from iheir backs in lailers, soniB 
wards of seventy person., men, w..men, and chil 'heir bands and face, laceriiled. f""'° 7/*"/;'"'' 
, . .V, ■ I «r .- 't\ features tro.iden into u muni.i.y by the jron-shod 

drtn.lon iheir lives l-y^^ffocjlion. Ihc particu |«^^^'°;^^^^ , ^^ their fellow-sufferers; here a father 
lar. are thui related : /"%> ^^ ^ lomk^d in the armrt of hi. daughter; ihero a sisie- 

"It appears that about four o'clook on the cve-<.|ineini? la the eorpso of her brother, their counte- 
ning of the 1st Dccenibur, the steamboat London- n,npt.g black and distorted with the convulsions 
icrry left the barbur of Sligo. There were on board produced by suffocation. 

hor Ibreo cabin passengers, a numt)er of ehoep ami 'ii,e followMi(i; is a description of the scene which 
ox.n, and about 150 emigrants. The vt-ssul was met the eye of th»i mats whfn a sieeras* passenger 
crossing over to ihis port, whence the majority oi ^^(,o had, ui last, forced liis way out, coiiimouicaled 
the untortunato passengers intended to proceed m- jq him the terrible intelligence : 
einigraiiis to Ain<rica. Towards nightlull a heavy 'The mate instantly became alarmed, and ob- 
gale cume on, and at last blew with so much vio- tainin" a lantern, went down to render aesistance 
lence, that bhortly afier midnigbt, or rather towarda jjuch "however, was tha foul state of the air in the 
one o'clock on Sjtu.day iiiornin< -■ ■ ■ 
cleared of all except the seamen 

iengers, perhaps one hundred and fifty in number, guished. At length, on the tarpaulin be.ng com- 
wcie crowded into the (ore cabin, men, women and pletely removed, and a free access of air admitted, 
<:hildren, all wore driven below —driven, we say, ihe real nature of the catastrophe exhibited itself — 
because several struggled against those who forceu There lay, in heaps, the living, the dying, and the 
them down the companion ladder. j^j^j one frightful mass of mingled agony and d'-aih. 

After some ditliculty, however, many remonstran- ji spectacle enough to appal the stoutest heart. Men, 
ces, and much opposition, the poor emigrants were «yomen, and children were hpddled together, bUck- 
crammod into the narrow compass oftho fore-cabin, ^ned with sulTocation, distorted by convuleions, 
it coQipariment little moro than eighteen feet long bruised and bleeding from the desperate straggle for 
hy eleven feet wide, and seven (eet high. The existence which preceded the moinent when ex- 



ing, the decks were cabin, thnt the light was immediately extinguished 
en. The steerage pas- a second was obtained, and ii, too, was extin 



pace was capable only of accomiiiodaling about for- 
ly passenger!), and here were nearly one hundred 
-ind bfiy of both sexes, huddled together indiscrimi- 
nately, the old and the young, the robust and the 
sickly, the adult and the infant. Meanwhile, the 
sea was running hi^h in the' channel, so ^hat tbt- 
waves repeatedly broke over the steamer. Then ii 
was that, through the negligence of ihorO who wen 
responsible for the lives ul the people on boaid. a 
measure of momentary convenience waa adopted 
which led to a catastrophe the like of which Ims on- 
ly occurred before in the notorious prison of Culcut 
la. 'l"he companion, the only aperluru by which 
the fore-cabin received ventilation, was closed, ami 
)ver the companion was nailed down a piece of tar- 
paulin! 

1 his was at about midnight between Friday and 
r^atarday. The result proved to be only such as* 
coiiiiiiun sense would mil every one was inevitable 
The dizzinetis and qualms of aea-sickness were verN 
«oon forgotten in unendurable sensations of sufibca- 
tion. ElFirts were made to force a way out of the 
confinement: they were found to be unavailing 
^houts were raised to attract attention; they whip 
drowned in the roaring noise of the storm. And 
then, according to the description of the few cur 
vivors, ensuiid a npnctacle sucti as sets the imagina- 
tion of evi;n the most moibul at defiance. The 
.iieamer drove bravely through the tempest, whil. 
ilio.e who directed her remained wholly unconscious- 
ol the frishiful conllint for life and death wllkh was 
ihen raging in her vtiry entrails. 

The trampling and Ix-aiii g sounds within the cab- 
in were rendered inaudible by the throbbing ol ih) 
pistons, and the shrieks and ^rouiis of ihe sullererk 
(inly died away with the gale towards moriiin{i 
Not until ilifu were tlin seamen awatn of the Irage 
dy which had burn enacted under their feet. Oui 
of the one hundred and tifly passengers who had 
been driven down the companinn-lidder a few hi>ur>- 
before, seventy-two were found lo have perished ! 



blasted nature resigned the strife. After some-time 
',he living were separated from the dead, and it was 
'.hen found thtt the latter amounted lo nearly one- 
"lalf of the entire number.' 

■ Captain Johnstone appears at length to have been 
iiade aware that he had become a main actor in a 
scene of the most horrible calamity. But he was 
uncertain what to do. He put hi* steamer into 
Lough Foyle. but it was twelve hours before he 
could make np his mind to paaa up to the quay at 

\ The coroner's jary have found Alexander John- 
Itone, captain, Richard Hughes, first mate, and 
Ninian Crawford, second mate of the Londonderry, 
fcuiliy of maii^laujihter, and have expressed in the 
stronaBSt terms their abhorrence of the inhuman 
conductor the other seamen oa board, throughout 
this unhappy transaction." 

The steamship America Capt. Loitch, from Wew 
York, Nov. 22d, arrived in the Mersey afternoon ol 
4ih in'st., having made the passage in about 12 days. 
I The steamship Acadia, Capt. Stene, arrived at Liv- 
erpool 12ih A. M., in les. than thirteen days from 
! Boston. The steamship Washingion, Capt. John- 
; ston from Now York, 20ih ult, arrived at Southamp- 
ton on the 5ih inst. 

The steamship Herman, Capt. Crablree, sailec 
I from tjouthampton. on the I2ib December, for New 
Vortf wah «!».«.--• (jnd a large freight list. 



->»' 



«!•' 



Death from Asthra'cite Coal Gas. AW' 
old man named Ttiomas Fitzpairick died yester . 
day at his residence in 7lh street below Wharton, 
from the effects of Anthracite Coal ?as inhaled 
hy him during Saturday night. His son was 
likewise nffected hy it, but is in a fair way of re- 
covery. It seems that on Saturday ni<!;ht, before 
5oin!? 10 bed, they made up a fire and turned the 
damper o( the stove, so thai in a short lime 
(hereafter, the fitincs must have spread through 
their apartment and rendered thein unconscious. 
On Sunday about ten o'clock, they were d srover- 
ed almost lifeless. Dr T. S. Reed was called in 
the afternoon to see the suflcrers, but it was too 
\nv<^ »n do :iny eaod in the case of the father. 
^phUa^'i^'--. „Jr-^?,.te,Jan23d. , ^^A 

"- - Ti„.,„„„,c' The 



ch /^^/ 



Important Discovery in Ventilation. 
The London Literary Gazette announces a verj 
impQriani discovery in ventilation. The inventor, 
Dr Ghowne, has taken out a patent for it. It is 
based upon a principle of the syphon, hitherto 
unnoticed. It is found that air rushes into the 
short leg of the syphon, and out at the long, in- 
cessanilv. The application of this principle, to 
the purp'oses of ventilation, will suggest them- 
selves to every mind. The discovery is one of 
great importance, without doubt. Every room, 
connected with a chimney, can have an appara- 
tus constituting the short leg of the syphon, leav- 
ing the chimney ior the long leg. 



REPORT ON VENTILATION, 



PRESENTED TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, DEC. 30tJi, 1846. 



The Committee, to whom the subject of Ventilation 
was referred, ask leave to 



EEP O RT: 

That, during the early part of the present year, 
they have visited, and carefully examined, all the 
School houses under the care of this Board, in obe- 
dience to the Order herewith prefixed. 

Your Committee do not deem it advisable or ne- 
cessary, to enter upon the discussion or description 
of the various systems of ventilation which have been 
proposed from time to time, or to consider their 
comparative merits. Many of them, no doubt, are 
excellent ; and, if properly arranged, must be effi- 
cient. But we believe, that the distinguishing ex- 
cellence of any method must consist in, and be in 
exact ratio to, its adaptedness to meet the peculiar 
requirements of each case to which it is applied. 
Nor do we think it possible for any plan to succeed, 
which does not include the architecture and situa- 
tion of the structure to be ventilated, and the num- 
ber and necessities of those who are to occupy it. 
Nevertheless, a suitable attention to the laws of life, 



6 VENTiL.VllON OF 

and of the physical agents which are concerned with 
it, will always ensure ready indications of the best 
course of procedure, and, at the same time, furnish 
a basis whereon to found it, which will be sufficient- 
ly firm and comprehensive. Your Committee, there- 
fore, desire to call the attention of this Board to the 
consideration of such general and well-established 
Physiological and Philosophical principles, as have a 
distinct and intimate relation to the subject of this 
Report, or may be useful in its elucidation. 

In doing this, there are two things of which they 
hope to satisfy the Board. 

First. The necessity of a system of Ventilation, 
which shall furnish, for all the pupils in the Public 
Schools of Boston, at all times, an abundant supply 
of an atmosphere entirely adapted, in its purity and 
temperature, to the purposes of respiration. 

Secojidlij. The entire failure of the measures here' 
tofore adopted to accomplish this desirable end. 

The function of Respiration is that process, by 
whose agency and constant operation, the atmos- 
pheric air is admitted to the internal surface of the 
lungs, for the purpose of effecting certain changes in 
the blood which are as essential to the continuance 
of life, as to maintain the integrity of the bodily or- 
gans. During this process, the air is constantly los- 
ing its oxygen, which is carried into the circulation, 
while, at the same time, it is becoming overcharged 
with tlie carbonic acid gas, which is continually 
thrown off from the lungs by respiration. This effete 
and deadly jjoison spreads itself rapidly into all parts 
of the room. 

" M. Lassaigne has shown, by a series of inves- 
tigations, that, contrary to a common opinion, the air 
in a room which has served for respiration without 



SCHOOL HOUSES. 7 

being renewed, contains carbonic acid alike in every 
part, above as well as below ; the difference in pro- 
portion is but slight ; and where appreciable, there 
is some reason to believe that the carbonic acid is in 
greater quantity in the upper parts of the room. These 
experiments establish the very important fact, that 
all the air of a room must be changed in order to 
restore its purity."* 

LeBlanc — who examined many public and private 
buildings, in France and elsewhere — speaking of the 
Chamber of Deputies, where sixty-four cubic feet of 
fresh air per minute were allowed to each individual, 
states, that of 10,000 parts escaping by the ventila- 
tor, twenty-five were carbonic acid ; while the quan- 
tity of this gas ordinarily present in the atmosphere 
is but TfftoT). 

Dr. Wyman makes the following remarks on this 
point : " Although carbonic acid is a much heavier 
gas than atmospheric air, it does not, from this 
cause, fall to the floor, but is equally diffused through 
the room. If the gas is formed on the floor, with- 
out change of temperature, this diffusion may not 
take place rapidly. In the celebrated Grotto del 
Cane, carbonic acid escapes from the floor, and rises 
to a certain height, which is pretty well defined to 
the sight on the walls ; below this line, a dog is des- 
troyed, as if in water ; above it, he is not affected. 
An analysis of the air above and below a brazier has 
been made, and it was found equally contaminated, 
— the former containing 4.65 per cent., and the lat- 
ter 4.5 per cent, of carbonic acid. 

" From the experiments of M. Devergie, who has 
devoted much attention to the poisonous effects of 

* Silliman's Journal, for September, 1846. 



8 VENTILATION OF 

these gases, it appears, that the heat disengaged 
from the comlnistion of charcoal, produces an equa- 
ble mixture at all elevations in tlie apartment ; and 
this state of things continues as long as the room 
remains warm ; but after twelve hours or more, the 
carbonic acid sinks, and while that near the ceiling 
contains only a seventy-eighth, that near the floor 
contains nearly four times as much, or a nineteenth."* 

If further proof be needed to establish this posi- 
tion, we have other testimony. It is known that a 
considerable quantity of vapor is discharged from the 
lungs during respiration. With regard to this, Mr. 
Tredgold says : " If the air did not contain this mix- 
ture of vapor, it would not rise when expelled ; and 
we have to admire one of those simple and beautiful 
arrangements, by which our all-wise Creator has pro- 
vided against the repeated inhalation of the same air ; 
for a mixture of azote, carbonic acid gas, and vapor, 
at the temperature it is ejected, is much lighter than 
common air even at the same temperature. Hence, 
it rises with such velocity, that it is entirely removed 
from us before it becomes diffused in the atmos- 
phere. But as all gaseous bodies and vapors inti- 
mately mix when suffered to remain in contact, we 
see how important it is that ventilation shoidd be 
continual ; that the noxious gases should be expel- 
led as soon as generated ; and that the ventilation 
should be from the upper part of a room."t 

If, to the foul effluvia ejected from the lungs, and 
accumulating in an apartment as badly ventilated 
as one of our School rooms, be added the fouler mat- 
ter thrown into the air from the insensible perspira- 
tion of so many individuals, many of whom are of 

" Prncticnl Treatise on Ventilation, p. 77. 

f Tredgold on Warming and Ventilating Buildings, p. 70. 



SCHOOL HOUSES. 9 

uncleanly habits in person and apparel, it is appa- 
rent, that, in a very limited period of time, the air 
in a perfectly close room would become so entirely 
unfit for respiration, that, to all who were exposed 
to its influence, submersion in water could not be 
more certainly fatal. 

The terrible effects of continued exposure to car- 
bonic acid gas in a concentrated form, have been 
graphically described by Howard, in his account 
of the Black Hole of Calcutta. Of one hundred 
and forty-six persons, shut up in this place, for only 
ten hours, without any other means of ventilation 
than one small opening, but twenty-six were found 
alive, when it came to be opened ; and most of these 
suffered afterwards from malignant fevers. 

The fainting of feeble persons in crowded assem- 
blies, and the asphyxia so often produced in those 
who descend into deep wells without suitable pre- 
caution, are familiar examples of the same noxious 
effects of this poison. 

It has been usually estimated, that every individ- 
ual, by respiration, and the various exhalations from 
the body, consumes or renders unfit for use, at least 
from four to five cubic feet of air per minute. This 
is probably a low estimate ; but authors of good re- 
pute differ considerably on this point. Mr. Tred- 
gold's remarks, in this connection, are interesting 
and pertinent. " The Physiological Chemists," says 
he, " have placed in our hands a more accurate 
means of measuring the deterioration of air in dwell- 
ing-rooms, than by the best eudiometer; for they 
have shown, by repeated experiments on respiration, 
that a man consumes about thirty-two cubic inches 
of oxygen in a minute, which is replaced by an equal 
bulk of carbonic acid from the lungs. Now, the 



10 VENTILATION OF 

quantity of oxy«?cn in atmospheric air is about one 
fifth ; hence it will be found, that the quantity ren- 
dered unfit for supporting cither combustion or ani- 
mal life, by one man, in one minute, is nearly one 
hundred and sixty cubic inches, by respiration only. 
But a man makes twenty resj)irations in a minute^ 
and draws in and expels forty inches of air at each 
respiration ; consequently, the total quantity con- 
taminated in one minute, by passing through the 
lungs, is eight hundred cubic inches."* The other 
sources of impurity, which should be considered, will 
increase the estimate to the amount above stated. 
The amount of vapor discharged from the lungs, and 
thus added to the impurities of the air, is said to ex- 
ceed six grains per minute. It has also been shown, 
that air which has been some time in contact with 
the skin, becomes almost entirely converted into car- 
bonic acid.t 

In estimating the amount of fresli air to be supplied 
we ought not merely to look at what the system will 
tolerate, but that amount which will sustain the high- 
est state of health for the longest time. Dr. Reid 
recommends at least ten cubic feet per minute, as a 
suitable average supply for each individual ; and 
states that his estimate is the result of an " extreme 
variety of experiments, made on hundreds of diff"er- 
ent constitutions, supplied one by one with given 
amounts of air, and also in numerous assemblies and 
meetings, where there were means for estimating the 
quantity of air with which they were provided." J 

These calculations refer to adults ; but the greater 
delicacy of the organization of children, and their 
feebler ability to resist the action of deleterious agents, 

* Treilgold on W'urniing and Veiililaling Buildings, p. GO. 
' Cniikshanka makes it twenty-three grains per minute. 
\ Illustrationa of Verjtilatjon, p 175 



SCHOOL HOUSES. 11 

together with their greater rapidity of respiration, de- 
mand for them at least an equal supply. Proceeding 
upon this basis, and multiplying the amount required 
per minute, by the minutes of a school session of three 
hours, we have eighteen hundred cubic feet for each 
pupil, and for two hundred and fifty pupils — the 
average maximum attendance in one of our large 
school rooms, — 450,000 cubic feet, as the requisite 
quantity for each half-day. The rooms contain about 
22,500 cubic feet only : so that a volume of air, equal 
to the whole cubic contents of each room, should be 
supplied and removed, in some way, ten times every /v^*-*^^ . 
three hours, in order to sustain the air in them at 
a point which is perfectly healthy and agreeable. 
For such a purpose, the present means are so entirely 
inadequate, that it was found that the air of a room 
became tainted in ten or fifteen minutes. In ordi- 
nary cases, four per cent, of the air expelled from 
the lungs is carbonic acid. The presence of five or 
six per cent, will extinguish a lamp, and with diffi- 
culty support life. It is therefore certain, that the 
air would become deprived of all its best properties 
in one school session. 

The very earliest impressions received by your 
Committee, in their visits to the school houses, satisf 
fied them of their lamentable condition in regard td) 
ventilation. In some of them, they found the air so 
bad, that it could be perceived before reaching the 
school rooms, even in the open entries ; for we no- 
ticed that the clothes and hair of the children who 
passed us on the stairs were perceptibly impregnated 
with the foetid poison. And these circumstances ex- 
isted in houses, whose open windows testified, that 
the Masters had endeavored to improve the atmos- . 
phere by all the means placed at their disposal. To this 



K VEXTILA'l'IOX OF 

custom, — that of openiiui windows in school hours^ — 
the Instructers are compelled to resort for relief; this 
expedient being certainly the lesser of two very great 
evils. Yet this dangerous and injurious practice 
only mitigates the e^■ils of bad air, by creating others. 
It produces colds and inflammatory complaints, and 
the air still remains impure, offensive, and highly 
deleterious ; sufficiently so, to affect the delicate or- 
ganization of childhood, to blight its elasticity, and 
destroy that healthful physical action, on which de- 
pends the vigor of maturer years. 

We have referred to some of the more violent and 
sudden effects of exposure to air highly charged with 
these noxious gases. There are others, which, al- 
though more remote and hidden, are not therefore of 
less importance. The grave consequences of long- 
continued exposure to an atmosphere but a little be- 
low the standard of natural purity, although not im- 
mediately incompatible with life, can hardly be over- 
stated. These effects are often so insidious in their 
approach, as scarcely to attract notice ; it is therefore, 
the more necessary to provide against them in ad- 
vance. 

Children, who are confined in the atmosphere of 
these schools, soon lose the ruddy and cheerful com- 
plexions of perfect health which belong to youth, 
and acquire the sallow and depressed countenances 
which might reasonably be expected in over-worked 
factory operatives, or the tenants of apartments 
which are never blest by the cheeiful sun or the re- 
iving air. 

Although the atmosphere in the different school 
houst's varied very much in particular cases, either 
owing to the time of the visits, or from the amount 
of attention and intelligence of the ^Masters, vet in 



SCHOOL HOUSES. 13 

none of them was it at all satisfactory ; not one of 
them was furnished with any useful or systematic 
means of ventilation. 

All of the rooms are provided with registers, in or 
near the ceiling, ostensibly for the purpose of dis- 
charging the foul air, but which are entirely useless. 
The openings through the roof into the open air, 
where they exist, are so small, as to be quite inade- 
quate to relieve the attics ; so that the bad air must 
accumulate there, and, after becoming condensed, be 
gradually forced back again, to be breathed over by 
the same lungs which have already rejected it. The 
condition of the apartments, after undergoing a repe- 
tition of such a process, for any length of time, can 
easily be imagined.* 

It may be deemed a matter of surprise, that the 
subject of ventilating our school rooms has not long 
ago received the consideration necessary to remedy, 
or even to have prevented altogether, the evils of 
which we at present complain. But these evils have 
not always existed. It should be recollected, that 
the stoves and furnaces now in common use, are of 
comparatively modern date ; and moreover, that the 
ample fireplaces which they have displaced, always 
proved perfectly efficient ventilators, although, it is 
true, somewhat at the expense of comfort and fuel. 
But in closing the fireplaces, and substituting more 
economical methods of warming, evils of far greater 
magnitude have been entailed upon us. 

It is evident, that, in order to carry into operation 
any complete system of ventilation, there must be 
connected with it some apparatus to regulate the 
temperature of the air to be admitted, as well as to 

* See Diagram, p. 15, 



14 VENTILATION OF 

ensure its ample supply. Your Committee have ac- 
cordingly examined, with much care, this part of the 
subject. 

A majority of the buildings are furnished with 
" hot-air furnaces," situated in the cellars ; the re- 
mainder with close stoves, placed in the school rooms 
themselves. 

In our endeavors to introduce in this department, 
the improvements which seemed to us absolutely es- 
sential, we have encountered serious difficulties. 
Most of the furnaces possess great heating powers, 
— indeed much greater than are necessary, if the 
heat generated by them were properly economized, 
or could be made available; — but, as now con- 
structed, they are worse than useless, consuming 
large quantities of fuel, and, at the same time, so 
.overheating the air which passes through them, as to 
deprive it of some of its best qualities, and render it 
unsuitable for respiration, although it is difficult to 
define, with precision, or by analysis, the changes 
which take place in air subjected to the action of 
metallic surfaces, at a high temperature. 

It has been ascertained, by repeated examinations, 
that the temperature of the air, when it arrives at 
■^a^" the rooms, through the very small warm air pipes 
now furnished, is often as high as 500° and 600" 
Fahrenheit. Of course, it is entirely impossible to 
diffuse air, thus heated, in the parts of the room oc- 
cupied by the pupils. Much of it passes rapidly out 
of the windows, which may be open ; the rest to the 
ceiling, where it remains until partially cooled, grad- 
ually finding its way down by the walls and closed 
windows, to the lower parts of the room. The con- 
sequence is, that while much more caloric is sent 
into the apartment than is requisite, many of the pu- 



SCHOOL HOUSEa 



15 



pils are compelled to remain in an atmosphere which 
is at once cold and stagnant. 

A reference to the subjoined diagram will explain 
at once, the present state of the Ventilation of the 
school houses. 




a. Heated air from furnace. 

b. Hot air escaping through open window. 

c. Cold air entering through open window. 

These difficulties are inherent in the structure of 
the furnaces ; and they cannot well be obviated, by 
any other method than by rebuilding or replacing 
them. 

The boxes, which admit the cold air to the fur- 
naces, are much too contracted ; some of them being 
only a few inches square, when their capacity ought 
to be nearly as many feet. The air enters the " cold 
air" chamber of the furnace, at its top, whence it is 
intended to be carried down between thin brick walls, 
(which should be cold, but which are often heated to 
300° Fahrenheit,) to the lower part of the furnace, 
and thence into the " hot air " chamber, and so on 
to the rooms above. It is obvious that the " hot- 
air " chamber must be heated to a temperature far 
beyond that of the " cold air " chamber, in order to 



16 VENTILATION OF 

compel the air, against its own natural tendencies, 
to pass into it with any velocity or volume, and the 
very attempt to accomplish this, almost defeats it- 
self; as, by driving the fire for this purpose, the 
" cold-air " chamber becomes still hotter, so that at 
iKst the contest is decided only by the greater calor- 
ific capabilities which the iron plates possess over 
the brick wall. At any rate, the temperature of the 
iron fire pot is frequently raised to a red or even a 
white heat^ by running the furnaces in the ordinary 
way. This soon destroys them, and they require 
consequently to be frequently renewed. 

Your Committee arc satisfied, that the present 
state of the school houses daily impairs the health of 
the pupils and Instructors, and the efficiency of the 
schools for the purposes of instruction ; that its 
continuance will produce, not only immediate dis- 
comfort and disease, but, by its effect upon the con- 
stitutions of the children, who must pass in them a 
large portion of those years most susceptible to 
physical injury, will directly and certainly reduce 
the amount of constitutional vigor hereafter to be 
possessed by that large mass of our poi)ulation, 
which now and hereafter is to receive its education 
in these schools. 

With regard to the expenditure necessary- to com- 
plete the improvements which your Committee re- 
commend, they are of tlie opinion, that the alarming 
evils referred to in this Report, may be at once, and 
entirely and permanently removed, at an average ex- 
pense of two hundred and fifty dollars for each 
school house, now built. And by availing ourselves 
of some recent improvements, which have been 
made in this Citv, in the fonn and construction of a 



SCHOOL HOUSES. 17 

part of the necessary apparatus, we hope to reduce 
its cost, and at the same time increase its efficiency. 
But the Committee have no douht, from actual 
experience of the effects ah-eady produced by the 
experiments which they have superintended, in two 
school houses, that all the expense of any alterations 
which may be required, to warm and ventilate our 
school houses upon rational principles, and in a tho- 
rough manner, will be more than saved to the City, 
in two or three years, in the item of fuel alone, if 
the system which they propose is adopted, and faith- 
fully carried into operation. 

[The Eeport then details some experiments upon 
the Eliot School house, and describes the plans 
adopted to ventilate the Endicott School house. 
These can be omitted here, as all their essential 
features are comprised in the diagrams which illus- 
trate the final Eeport. The following drawing is 
given to show the mode adopted for introducing and 
supplying warm air to the houses and apartments, 
such as recitation rooms, primary school rooms, &c., 
which we found heated by close stoves?\^ 

The drawing (page 18) exhibits a section of a stove, 
enclosed by an outward casing of sheet iron, or tin, 
so as to make a large chamber around it, into which 
the fresh air may be admitted and warmed. The 
arrows show the course of the air through the stove. 
It is supplied from an air-box opening under the 
inner cylinder and connecting with the fresh air by 
means of an aperture cut through the outer wall of 
the building. The suspended top regulates the tem- 
perature, and gives a lateral direction to the warm air. 



u 



VENTILATION OF 




The Committee propose the following as an outline 
of the best general plan for warming and ventilating 
the school houses. 

1. The air must be taken from a pure source and 
from the higher parts of the building, if any impuri- 
ties are found to exist near the surface of the ground. 

2. In order to ensure a constant and abundant 
supply, the air shaft when carried above the building 
must be surmounted with a cowl or hood of some 
kind, with its mouth turned towards the wind. 

3. The fresh air should in all cases be carried 
entirely beneath the furnace. If the cellar is wet 
and the situation low, the underground culvert, or 
channel, should be of brick, laid in cement. 

4. The furnace chamber should be so large that 
it can be entered at any time, without the necessity 
of taking down walls, for the purpose of repairs, or 
to observe the temperature. A large earthen pan 
for the evaporation of water should not be omitted. 
This should be kept ])erfoctly clean, and the water 
required to be frequently cliauged. 



SCHOOL HOUSES. 19 

5. A thermometer should be constantly at hand, 
and the temperature in the ivarm-air chamber should 
never he allowed to exceed that of boiling water. A 
still lower temperature is often desirable. If this 
point is secured, the hot air can be conducted with 
perfect safety into any part of the building. 

6. The openings for the admission of the warm 
air into the rooms, should be as numerous as possi- 
ble. The long platform occupied by the teachers, 
might be made an excellent diffusing surface. 

7. Openings of ample size must be made in the 
highest points of the ceiling, to be connected at the 
top of the roof with a turn-cap or louvre, the former 
being always surmounted with a vane. It is better 
that the ceiling should be perforated at its centre, 
and there is no objection to running the ventilating 
shaft, at first, horizontally, if the perpendicular and 
terminal portion of it is of considerable length.* 

8. It is well to have a power of some sort, ivithin 
the apparatus at its top, for the purpose of compelling 
constant action and of increasing the force of the 
apparatus, whenever the state of the weather, or the 
crowding of the room, renders it necessary. For this 
purpose, the most convenient and economical means 
are furnished by a gas burner, an argand lamp, or a 
stove ; and one of these may be in constant readiness 
for use, when neither the velocity of the wind, nor the 
low temperature of the external atmosphere, are 
sufficient to produce the desired effect. 

9. All the openings and flues for the admission of 
pure air, and the discharge of the foul air, should be 
of the maximum size ; that is, they should be calcu- 
lated for the largest numbers which the apartment is 
ever intended to accommodate. 

* See page 31 of Final Report. 



90 VENTILATION OF 

10. Valves must be so placed in the flues as to 
be easily regulated without leaving the rooms into 
which they open. 

11. The best average temperature for school- 
rooms, is from 64^ to 68° Fahrenheit ; this range 
including that of the healthiest climates in their best 
seasons. 

12. For the purpose of summer ventilation, and 
for occasional use in moderate weather, fireplaces of 
good size may be constructed in the new houses. 
They should always be double, and furnished with 
chambers communicating with the open air. 

13. Each story of the building must be warmed 
by a Furnace or Stoves, appropriated exclusively for 
its own use. 

Before concluding this Report, your Committee 

cannot avoid expressing the confident belief, that a 

\ suitable consideration of the evils, whose existence 

i they have proved, is only necessary to ensure their 

speedy removal. 

It has been already shown, that healthy blood is 
essential to the proper vital action of the organs of 
the human body, and that the healthy condition of 
the blood, depends entirely upon the act of respira- 
tion ; that, t o breathe air d e])ri yed of its oxy gen,, or » 
containing any thing which prevent s the necessary 
changes in the blood, is to_bi -eathe disease and death . 

We can subsist without food, for days, or even 
weeks. We might spend our whole lives, under 
some circumstances, without clothing or shelter; and 
yet, while almost all the energies of civilized society 
are exerted to obtain these things, in their various 
forms of comfort or luxury ; with a most surprising 
disregard of the dictates of common sense, and a 



SCHOOL HOUSES. 21 

want of discretion which is no where else exhibited, 
we exclude from our best houses, by every means in 
our power, that vital fluid, without which no respi- 
ratory being can exist for a single hour. 

HENEY G. CLAEK, 
EDWARD G. LOHING, 
CHAELES BEOOKS. 

Boston, December 30, 1846. 



CITY OF BOSTON. 



In School Committee, December 30, 1846. 

Ordered, That the Committee on Ventilation be 
and hereby are directed to adapt to each School 
room of the Common Schools such apparatus, if any, 
as may be required to secure to them proper venti- 
lation in Winter and Summer, and make such alter- 
ations and arrangements of the furnaces as may be 
required. 

Attest, S. F. McCleary, Secretary/. 



9i VENTILATION OF 

In order to obtain the requisite means for carrying 
out the intentions of the School Board, the Commit- 
tee on Ventikition memorialized the City Council. 
The subject was referred to a Special Joint Commit- 
tee, who made thereupon a Ilq)ort, as follows : 

The Joint Special Committee to whom was re- 
ferred the petition of the Sub-Committee of the 
School Committee, asking an appropriation to im- 
prove the ventilation of the Grammar School Houses, 
have attended to the subject, and ask leave to 

REPORT. 

The petitioners appeared before the Committee, 
and set forth the great importance that attaches to 
the subject of having pure air where great numbers 
are congregated — especially where those masses are 
constituted of children. They stated that in two of 
the Grammar School Houses, they had caused a ven- 
tilating apparatus to be constructed, which had been 
in operation nearly a year. 

The experience of this period authorized them to 
state, first, that the air of the rooms had been greatly 
improved, — and in the second place, that the expense 
of warming the rooms was diminished one half, be- 
sides a great saving in the consumption of the cast- 
ings of the furnace. 

Such were the representations of the petitioners. 

In order to be fully satisiied, the Committee visited 
the Endicott School, where the apparatus was in 
operation. The day was exceedingly wet and disa- 
greeable, and yet the air of the rooms was found in 
an unobjectionable condition. The masters fully sus- 
tained the representations of the petitioners ; and 



SCHOOL HOUSES. 23 

from their statements, as well as from their own ob- 
servations, the Committee were satisfied of the bene- 
ficial efiects of said apparatus. 

In order, however, to have a more full investiga- 
tion of the matter, the Committee, on a subsequent 
day, visited the Johnson School and the Boylston 
School. The day was dry and cold, and they found 
the air in the Johnson School in a tolerably good 
condition. This is a girls' school; and it is well 
known that the pupils in such schools are neater, 
and attend in cleaner and more tidy apparel, than 
the pupils in the boys' schools. 

In the Boylston School, however, the Committee 
found the air very disagreeable and oppressive ; and 
they could not but feel the importance of executing 
some plan of relief. 

From the earnest representations of the petition- 
ers, and from the result of their own examination, 
the Committee are of the opinion that the prayer of 
the petitioners ought to be granted ; and they there- 
fore recommend the passage of the following order ; 
all which is respectfully submitted. 

BILLINGS BEIGGS, Chairman. 



Ordered^ That the sum of Four Thousand Dollars 
be appropriated for the purpose of improving the 
ventilation of the Grammar School Houses — the 
same to be expended under the direction of the Joint 
Committee on Public Buildings — and be chai'ged to 
the appropriation for School Houses. 

In Common Council^ Jan. 21, 1847. 
Passed. 

Sent up for concurrence. 

GEO. S. HILLARD, President. 

In the Board of Aldermen, Jan. 25, 1847. 
Read and concurred. 

JOSIAH QUINCY, Jr. Mai/or. 



FINAL REPORT, ETC. 



In School Committee, December' 9, 1847. 
The Committee upon Ventilation respectfully 

REPORT: 

That in obedience to the order of this Board, and 
in pursuance of the plans laid before it in a former 
Report, your Committee have diligently applied 
themselves to the duty of ventilating the School 
Houses — a labor, whose difficulties, could they have 
been fully anticipated, might have prevented its ac- 
complishment, at least by the members of this Com- 
mittee. Although the members of the building 
Committee of the City Council have personally ex- 
tended to us every reasonable courtesy, yet we can- 
not avoid the impression that the provisions of the 
Charter which deprive this Board of the control of the 
plans of the School Houses were framed with a very 
unwise disregard of the best interests of the Schools. 

But notwithstanding the intrinsic difficulties of 
this undertaking^ increased as they have been by the 
causes last named, your Committee cannot deny 
that it is with much satisfaction they now announce 
its completion. For we think it is no more than 
just to express our sincere opinion that the Grammar 
School Houses of Boston are now in a better condi- 
tion, in respect to their ventilation, than any other 
public Schools in the world. 

We have said that the work was complete. It is 
so substantially — for although many things still re- 
quire to be done, in order to make every house in 



26 VENTILATION OF 

all points equal with the best, yet, with the examples 
we have given, and the plans and specifications we 
shall submit, accompanying this Report, it is a mere 
mechanical work, as time and opportunities offer, to 
make each one in all points all that can be desired. 

The plans, to which we refer, have been adapted 
in various ways, and with a variety of apparatus, as 
the circumstances in each case seemed to require, to 
sixteen Grammar School Houses, the buildmg occu- 
pied by the High and Latin Schools, and besides 
these, to twenty-five large rooms used for Branch 
or Primary Schools. To all of these we have caused 
to be affixed the necessary flues, tops, and other ap- 
paratus for discharging the foul air ; and they re- 
quire nothing more for that purpose. We have al- 
tered, enclosed, or rebuilt, twenty-one stoves and 
furnaces, and set and supplied with the ducts, valves, 
&c., twenty-six of the new ventilating stoves, herein- 
after described. A few houses still require stoves or 
furnaces or alterations of the same, of which a list 
is herewith appended. 

The diversity of arrangement and the modifications 
in our plans into which we have been compelled by 
circumstances, have had their advantages, and ena- 
bled us to arrive at the best results, and to satisfy 
ourselves entirely in regard to the particular set of 
apparatus which we can recommend with confidence 
for future use as decidedly the most effective and 
convenient. 

We have therefore furnished drawings and specifi- 
cations of the set of apparatus wiiich we recommend. 

Furnaces. — The only Furnaces belonging to the 
Scliool Houses which we have thought worth re- 
building are those of ]\Ir. Preston. They are very 
substantial, require but little repairing, and are easily 
managed. They are open to sufficient objections. 



SCHOOL HOUSES. 2T 

however, we think, to make it undesirable to furnish 
any more where new ones are to be supplied ; and 
they are simply these : The whole radiating surface 
is of heavy cast iron : it is therefore slow in becoming 
warmed so as to affect the air chamber ; and the fur- 
naces, for the same reason, are not economical as con- 
sumers of fuel. The fire-place is of brick, and in this 
respect it is very much superior to most other fur- 
naces in which the iron fire pot itself is made the 
principal means of heating the air. 

The other Furnaces which have been in use in some 
of the houses are so objectionable, on account of the 
frequent bursting of their pots and the escape of the 
deadly gas into the air chamber, as well as for other 
reasons, that we have thought the matter of sufii- 
cient importance to be made the subject of a special 
communication to the Committee of Public Buildings. 

Your Committee have made themselves acquainted 
not only with all the Furnaces which have been man- 
ufactured in this place, and its neighborhood, but 
with all those which have been exhibited here recent- 
ly. Most of them show much ingenuity of contri- 
V9,nce and excellence of workmanship ; but are all, 
so far as we can judge, inferior in many respects, to 
the one, a model and plans of which we now exhibit, 
and recommend as superior to all others.* 

It is simple in its structure, easily managed, will 
consume the fuel perfectly, and with a moderate fire. 
It is fitted for wood or coal. The fire place is broad 
and shallow, and is lined with soapstone or fire-brick, 
which not only makes it perfectly safe and durable, 
but modifies very materially the usual effect of the 
fire upon the iron pot. 

The principal radiating surfaces are wrought iron, 
of a suitable thickness for»service, while at the samis 

* Invented by Mr. Chilson. (See page 2S.) Also, Appendix, D. 



28 



VENTILATION OF 



time the heat or the smallest fire is communicated 
immediately to the air chamber. The mode of set- 
ting this Furnace we consider essential ; more espe- 
cially the plan of admitting the air to the furnace at 
its lowest point, as it then rises naturally into the 
apartments above. This process commences as soon 
as the temperature is raised even a single degree. 
The outer walls remain cold ; the floor above is not 
endangered, and the whole building is rapidly filled 
with an atmosphere which is at once salubrious and 
delightful. The proprietor of this Furnace very lib- 
erally offered to make such improvements upon its 
original forai as your Committee thought necessary 
or desirable, at his own cost. He has also allowed 
one to be set in the Mayhew School House under our 
direction, where it may be seen in contrast with one 
of the old furnaces set in the old way.* 




Sertion of Old Furnace. Sec p. 15. 



r|*nv«./^^ '^'>^>a •* Since the nbove w.is lend, the p r o jui'-tcr.-i of the old furnace have re- 
placed the old pot, (wiiiih had cracked) and enlarged the air box to three 



times its former bIzs. 



SCHOOL HOUSES. 



29 



The cold-air channel to this furnace is four feet by 
nearly tivo — and the warm-air flue, which is of brick, 
lined with cement, is ahout three feet, by one and a 
half (See Appendix D.) 

For the -houses which we found without the Hot 
Air Furnaces, as also for the Eecitation and other 
single Eooms, the invention of a Stove which should 
answer the same purpose became essential. One was 
therefore contrived ; and having been found in its 
earlier and ruder forms to be of great utility, it has 
since been improved in its appearance, as well as in 
the convenience of its management. 



Elevation and Section of the Ventilating Stove. 





Elevation. 



Section. 



These Stoves are composed of two cylinders, the 
inner containing a fire chamber, which is lined with 
soap stone or fire brick, while the outer constitutes a 



30 VENTILxVTION OF 

chamber for warming the air, which is introduced in- 
to it l^encatli tlie inner cylinder, from an air box di- 
rectly connected with the external atmosphere. 
They possess the following advantages : — 

1. They are in fact furnaces^ having distinct and 
capacious air chambers. 

2. They insure, when properly set, that supply of 
fresh air, which is indispensahle to the proper ventila- 
tion of any apartment. 

3. The Regulating Distributor, which is movable 
or fixed, as may be desired, determines Mith great 
accuracy the amount and temperature of the admit- 
ted air. 

4. The outer cylinder is never hot enough to bum 
the person or clothing, or to be uncomfortable to 
those who are situated in its immediate vicinity. 

5. They are constructed with the utmost regard to 
efficiency, durability, compactness, and neatness of 
appearance. 

These Stoves have been furnished to the Schools 
whenever your Committee have required their use, 
and at manufacturers' prices, without any profit what- 
ever to the Inventor and Patentee.^ 

They may be used with advantage in the largest 
rooms, when the cellars are unfit for Furnaces, or 
when it is preferred to have the fire in the room it- 
self The Johnson, Wells, Ilawes, and Winthrop 
School houses are warmed entirely by them. 

Ventiducts. The discharging ventiducts have been 
made in various ways — some of wood, some of metal, 
and others of " lath and plaster." Some have opened 
at the ceiling only, und in but one part of the room, 
while others have been equally divided at opposite 
sides of the apartment. Our rule is this : — If the 
Heating Apparatus is at one end of an oblong room, 



SCHOOL HOUSES. 31 

the ventiduct is placed at the opposite. If the store 
or furnace flue is at the middle of the longest side, 
the ventiducts are placed at each end, and are of 
course reduced to one half the size of the single one. 

The hest manner of constructing them is shown by 
the drawings, and described on page 33. 

There is great economy in carrying the boxes to 
the floor in all cases. In this way the room can be 
kept warm and the air pure in the coldest and most 
windy days. 

The registers at the top and bottom can be used 
separately or together, as may be desired. (See Ap- 
pendix A.) 

It is necessary and advantageous to apply some 
kind of cap or other covering upon the ventiducts 
where they terminate above the roof It is necessary 
as a protection from the rain and the down blasts of 
wind, and it is also very advantageous to be enabled 
in this way to avail ourselves of the power of the 
wind to create an active upward current. We used 
at first the turncap or cowl invented by Mr. Espy, 
and with satisfactory results. It is undoubtedly the 
best movable top known ; but is noisy and somewhat 
liable to get out of working order. These objections 
to the movable tops have long been known, and va- 
rious stationary tops have been invented and have 
been partially successful. An improved Stationary 
Top, or Ejecting Ventilator, as it is called, has been 
invented during the past year by Mr. Emerson, and 
is the apparatus to which we referred on page 16, 
of our first Report. It is shown in the drawing, and 
consists of a frustrum of a cone attached to the top 
of a tube, open in its whole extent, and surmount- 
ed by a fender which is supported upon rods, and 
answers the double purpose of keeping out the rain 



32 



VENTILATION OF 



and of so directing or turning a blast of wind upon 
the structure, as that in whatever direction it falls, 
the effect, that of causing a strong upward draft, 
will be very uniform and constant. 



EJECTING VENTILATOR 



lNJErTI\(; Vn\Tll,ATOR. 





Being satisfied that this Stationary Ejector pos- 
sessed all the advantages of the best tops hitherto 
known, without the disadvantages of either of them, 
we have adopted it for several of the houses last ven- 
tilated, and find it in all respects satisfactory. We 
therefore recommend it for general use. 

The Injector may generally be dispensed with, but 
in situations unfavorable for introducing air, it may 
be sometimes found convenient, or even necessary. 



SCHOOL HOUSES. 



33 



iiiiiiii!iiiiuiii:ii]i;i 



Elevation of Ventiducts. 



The discharging ventiducts should 
be situated at the part of the rooms 
most distant from the stove or reg- 
ister of the furnace, and should al- 
v^ays, if possible, be constructed in 
or upon an interior wall or parti- 
tion, and an outer brick wall must 
if possible be avoided. They should 
be made of thoroughly seasoned 
sound pine boards, smoothed on the 
inner sides, and put together with 
two-inch iron screws. The outside 
finish may be of lath and plaster, 
or they may be projected back- 
wards into a closet or entry, as 
^^^ shown in the Section.* They must 
be carried entirely to the floor, and 
should be fitted at the top and bottom 
with a swivel blind, or register, 
whose capacity is equal to that of 
the ventiduct into which it opens. 
This blind may be governed by 
stay rods or pulleys. The eleva- 
tion in the margin gives a view of 
the ventiducts for a building of three 
stories, and shows the best mode 
of packing them, so as to avoid in- 
juring the appearance of the rooms- 

These ventiducts must be he^^t 
entirely separate to the main dis- 
charger at the roof, as any other 
arrangement would impair or des- 
stroy their utility. 



fU^ 



* See page 35. 



.^. UfV^^Ji^ 



>%b^ 



u 



VENTILATION 0¥ 




Xlf 



fn: 



V^^ 



CI 



n. Cold nir duels. 
IT. Smoke flue*. 



The size of the ventilators 
and ventiducts must corres- 
pond to the capacity of the 
room, and the number it is 
intended to accommodate. 

A room containing sixty 
Scholars is found to require a 
discharo-infi: duct of fourteen 
inches in diameter./ A room 
for one hundred Scholars re- 
quires the tube to be eighteen 
inches ; and a room for two 
hundred Scholars requires it 
to be twenty-four inches. 

The fresh air ventiducts 
should exceed iJicajMcifj/ those 
for carrying off the impure 
air by about fiftj/ per cent. ; 
so that there will then always 
be a surplus or plenum sup- 
ply, and the little currents of 
cold air which press in at 
the crevices of the doors and 
windows will be entirely pre- 
vented. 

The Section shown in the 
margin exhibits a very con- 
venient mode of bringing the 
cold air to the ventilating 
stoves in a three story build- 
-insr in connection with the 
smoke flues. 







• • • . ^ " / '* ^ • 



SCHOOL HOUSES. 



35 



The following Section and Plans (See page 36) 
exhibit at one view an example of a building of two 
stories warmed and ventilated by the apparatus and 
in the manner recommended. 




Jl. Chilson's Furnace. 

B. The Boston School Stove. 

C. Emerson's Ejector. 



a. Cold or Fresh air ductg, 

h. Warmed air ducts. 

c. Impure air ducts. 

d. Smoke flues. 



<M 



VENTILATION OF 



Plans of first and second floors. The letters on 
the plans correspond to those in the Section. 




FIRST FLOOR. 




SECOND FLOOR. 

A. Furnace. 

a. a. a. Fresh air ducta. 

b. b. b. Warm air registeri. 
e. e. c. Impure air ducts. 



SCHOOL HOUSES. 37 

In the first Eeport it was estimated that the sum 
of j^250 would be sufficient to ventilate each School 
house. Our experience has justified this estimate — 
but we have found in the basement stories of these 
houses Branch or Primary Schools to the number of 
twenty-five, all of which have been ventilated. Al- 
lowing ^100 each for these, or charging oiF the cost 
of supplying and repairing heating apparatus, which 
we have been obliged to do, or discontinue our 
labors, and we shall still be much within our estimate. 
There are a few furnaces which require altera- 
tions, and one house, the Franklin, has not been 
ventilated, so that we think ^750 more should be 
asked for in addition to the ;^2750, the sum which 
is required to settle the bills for ventilating the rooms 
named above. 

We have appended to this Report directions for 
the management of the Stoves, Furnaces and Venti- 
ducts, to which the attention of the masters of the 
Public Schools is requested, in conformity to the 
rule of this Board which requires their attention to 
the Ventilation of the School houses under their 
care.* 

We request the passage of the accompanying or- 
ders. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 

HENRY G. CLARK, 
EDWARD G. LORING, 
CHARLES BROOKS. 

,«, * See Appendix A. 



CITY OF BOSTON 



In School Committeey Dec. 9, 1847. 

The Committee on Ventilation made a Report — 
to which was subjoined the following orders, viz : 

Ordered^ That the modes of ventilation and heat- 
ing specified in the foregoing Report, be and hereby 
are recommended to the City Government for the 
use of the Boston Schools. 

Ordered., That the City Council be requested to 
make an appropriation of ^3500 ; the said sum, or 
such part of it as may be necessary to complete the 
Ventilation of the School houses, to be subject to the 
order of the Sub-Committee of the School Committee 
upon the Ventilation of School houses. 

Read, accepted, and the orders passed by a unani- 
mous vote, and 500 copies ordered to be printed. 

Attest, S. F. McCleary, Secretary. 



APPENDIX. 



A. 

Rules relative to the use of the Stoves, Furnaces and 
Ventiducts. 

1. To warm the room. Close the upper, and open the lower 
registers of the ventiducts ; close the upper door of the stove or 
furnace and open the lower door. 

2. After the room is warmed. Eaise the distributing top of 
the stove from three to six inches ; close the lower door of the 
stove or furnace and open the upper door ; open all the registers 
of the ventiducts about half their width. 

3. If the room is too warm. Open the registers full width, 
and raise the cover of the stove, keeping the upper door of the 
stove or furnace open, and the lower door closed. 

4. If the room becomes too cool. Close the upper registers, (for 
a short time only ;) close the upper door of the stove and open 
the lower door ; drop the cover down within two inches of the 
sides. 

5. Never close the top of the stove entirely down, while there 
is any fire therein. 

6. At night, on leaving the room, let the cover of the stove 
down within one inch of the sides ; close the lower door of the 
furnace or stove and open the upper one ; place all the registers 
open about half their width. 

7. The valves in the cold air ducts must never be entirely 
closed while there is any fire in the stoves or furnaces to which 
they lead. 

8. TTie windows must not be opened to cool the room ; but the 
fire should be diminished, or the principal door may be opened for 
a short time. 



40 APPENDIX. 



B. See pages 14 and 27. 

The following extracts are made from a note furnished by Dr. 
Wjman* to your Committee at their request, and for which they 
desire to express to him their obligations. 

The answer to the first question, as quoted here, is a mere 
synopsis of that given, but is in the words of Dr. Wyman. The 
others are in full. 

" Question I. The chemical changes produced in air exposed 
in the chamber of a hot air furnace to an iron surface at a red-heat 
(800«— lOOO'T.)? 

"The changes produced under the circumstances stated in 
the query would be, the dryness, and the products of the more or 
less perfect combustion of animal or vegetable matter — carbonic 
acid and the other constituents of smoke. 

" Question II. Would there be any changes in such air which 
would render it injurious to the health of persons who depended 
upon it to supply their lungs for respiration ? 

" The dryness would undoubtedly be injui'ious and produce many 
unpleasant sensations, the most prominent of which would be dry- 
ness of the lips and skin, and inflammation of the eyes. The pro- 
ducts of the combustion of the inpurities of the air, if in sufficient 
quantity, would produce the usual effects of carbonic acid gas, 
head-ache and drowsiness ; the other products would produce irri- 
tation of the eyes, nose and lungs. 

" Question III. The consequences of letting into the air cham- 
ber of a furnace large quantities of the gases produced by the 
combustion of anthracite coal ? 

" These consequences must be injurious in proportion to the 
quantity of the gases admitted ; they are deadly poisons ; and 
when mingled with the air passing through the furnace and as- 
cending to the apartments which it supplies cannot but be injuri- 
ous to those whose lungs they enter. Not long since a man and 
boy in Salem lost their lives from entering a room into which the 
gases from burning anthracite had been driven by the wind. Too 
much care cannot be taken to prevent the escape of such gases 
into the air-chamber. 

" I am very respectfully, 

" Your obedient Servant, 

"MORRILL WYMAN. 
« Cambridge, Nov. 19, 1847." 

* Author of '• Practical Treatise on Ventilation." 



APPENDIX. 41 



C. 

The following note has been received from Mr. Hammond, a 
Master Mason, who has had more experience in repairing and 
setting Furnaces in the Boston School Houses than any other per- 
son. 

" Sir, 

" In compliance with your request, I submit to you what 
has come under my observation respecting the use of cast iron 
Cylinders (fire pots) in furnaces. 

" In the winter of 1845, I was called to put in two new Cylin- 
ders at the Mather School House. Last winter, another was re- 
quired ; and now it is necessary to put in two more. 

" At the Dwight School House, in January, 1847, I set two 
new Cylinders, and before the expiration of the winter they were 
not fit for use.* 

" The expense of a new Cylinder averages about *14. 

" I remain, sir, 

" Yours, with high respect, 

"J. HAMMOND. 

''Nov. 15, 1847." 



D. 

' See pages 16, 27 and 28. 

Extracts from a report on the Mayhew School Furnaces, made 
to the School Board, by J. M. Wightman, Esq. 

" The furnace of Messrs. Bryent & Herman is entirely of cast 
iron — the fire pot is very thick, and armed upon the outside with a 
number of projecting points to radiate the heat. The cold air box 
and hot air tube are much smaller thap in Mr. Chilson's, and as 
the air is admitted near the fire pot, which is generally red hot, 
the room is warmed by the diffusion of a comparatively small 
quantity of highly heated air passing into it. 

" The furnace of Mr. Chilson is of thick plate iron, having a more 
shallow fii'e pot of cast iron, lined with soap stone, which efFect- 

* The Furnaces here referred to have been «lisplaced by order of the 
Committee on Public Buildings. 
6 



42 APPENDIX. 

ually prevents its becoming red hot. The air is let into the fur- 
nace chamber, and from thence to the School room, in sufllcient 
volume to supply the whole domaiul of the School for fresh air, 
the air boxes being much larger than in any other furnace. By 
this arrangement, an immense quantity of warmed air is constantly 
passing through the School room, and the rapidity with which the 
air is changed, and an equal temi)eraturc kept in the School, are 
worthy of notice. 

'' On Monday, the 27th instant, the weather being very cold, tlie 
effect of the two furnaces in warming their several rooms was 
very apparent. When the School commenced at 9 o'clock, the 
temperature of the upper I'oom, warmed by Mr. Chilson's furnace, 
was 68°, while that of the room warmed by the furnace of Messrs. 
Bryent & Herman was at 55°. Both the fires were made at the 
same time, and had been burning with a full draft. Mr. Chilson's 
furnace wjis slightly red on the top ; but as the School was suffi- 
ciently warmed, the draft of this furnace was shut off, while that 
of Messrs. Bryent & Herman was kept on during the morning to 
procure the necessary heat. 

" Without entering further into a comparison of these two fur- 
naces, the Committee would state that they fully concur with the 
views of the " Committee on Ventilation," in giving the preference 
to the furnace constructed by Mr. Chilson — and among other 
reasons, because experience has shown that there is no danger of 
the fire pot being broken or destroyed, so as to let the noxious gas 
from the coal into the afr chamber — that they believe plate iron, 
sudiciently thick to be durable, will more rapidly transmit the 
lieat of the fire than cast iron, which must be much thicker — 
and from their observations, the room is warmed much quicker — 
the purity of the air is greater — and the Ventilation is more 
perfect than with the other." 



APPENDIX. 



43 



Elevation of Mr. Ghilson's Furnace referred to on page 27. 




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